SENIOR LUNCHES MAY RESUME IN JANUARY

THE HARTFORD COURANT

A hot lunch program for senior citizens that was halted by the town sanitarian this fall may resume after the first of the year.

The town council Tuesday unanimously agreed to spend $12,500 from the budget surplus for repairs in the food preparation area of the Tolland High School home economics room. Hot lunches had been prepared twice weekly by students in the food preparation class and served at low cost to senior citizens.

Sanitarian Robert DeVito had shut the lunch program down until several health code violations could be corrected, including replacing old formica and wooden countertops with non-porous materials and moving a clothes washer and dryer out of the kitchen.

The council considered approving a "quick fix" that would have cost under $1,000, but finally decided to proceed with all of the required work. The work should take about five days to complete and the next food preparation class, which starts in January, should be able to resume the lunch program, home economics teacher Kay Lucente said.